Liquid controlled device



c. COLLINS 2,205,811

LIQUID CDN'I'BOLLED DEVICE Filed April 12. 1939 22 17 I "'5' l 15 1 R 15 L1- 20 Figulo I @Izl 1 I.

I \l 25 k 50 28 WITNESS Patented June 25, 1940 LIQUID CONTROLLED DEVICE- (lalhoun Collins, Bakersfield, Caliil, assignor of two-fifths to California Pacific Service, Inc, Bakersfield, Califi, a corporation of California,

QFFICE and one-fifth to Theodore M. Ryerson, Bakersfield, Calif.

Application April 12, 1939, Serial No. 267,528

6 Claims.

The invention aims to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficient device for use with various kinds of liquid handling machines or apparatus, to automatically perform an operation, such as vision is made for adjusting said valve II at will.

A tubular vertical shaft I I is secured to the cup bottom and extends upwardly therefrom, said shaft I I being slidab-ly but non-rotatably mountgiving an audible or visible signal or stopping the ed in suitable guides I2 and it, the former being 5 machine or apparatus, when a predetermined mounted within the upper portion of the downcondition exists. ward extension 8 of. the casing 5, and the guide I3 One of the principal uses of the invention is in extending across the lower portion of the extenconnection with thewell known extractor used sion 7. I have shown the shaft II as provided in laundries and the like, and when the. invention with a fiat-sided external portion I4 engaging is so used, the extractor may be stopped at the the guide I2 which is similarly shaped internally, proper time to leave the required moisture but to hold said shaft against rotation. Stops I5 no more in theload upon which said extractor is have been shown on the portion M above and operating, insuring the best and most economical below the guide i 2 to limit the vertical moveresults whenfinishing. ments of the shaft. r Another practical application of the invention An adjusting shaft I6 is provided for the valve is in connection with various kinds of, tanks from disk Ill, said adjusting shaft extending through which liquid is discharged, to perform a predeterthe tubular shaft II and being secured at its mined operation when the discharge of liquid has lower end to said valve disk. The upper. end of dwindled to a predetermined extent. the shaft liiypasses through a guide or bearing With the foregoing in view, the invention re- I8 carried by the upper end of the casing extensides in the novel subject matter hereinafter .desion 7 and is provided with a flat-sided portion scribed and claimed, description being accom- I'l above said member I8. This flat-sided shaft plished by reference to the accompanying portion Ilpasses slidably through an adjusting drawing. arm I9 which lies upon the member I8 and is 5 Fig. 1 is a sectional perspective view showing held against ascent by an overlying arm 20. By a preferred form of construction. swinging the arm I9, the shaft I6 may be turned Fig. 2 is a detail perspective View showing the to adjust the disk valve II] as desired, thereby conliquid-receiving cup, the valve for adjusting the trolling the effective size of the drain opening 9 drain opening of said cup, and the shafts which in the cup 8. A link 2| is shown connected with carry the cup and adjust the valve. the arm It for adjusting said arm from a remote While the form of construction herein disclosed point. will be rather: specifically described, it is to be In t e pr nt disclosure, e arm is Cooperunderstood that variations may be made within able with an indicating scale 22 to aid in swingthe scope of the invention as claimed. ing said arm to the desired adjusted position and Acasing 5 is shown for horizontally conducting it will be obvious that said scale may be calia liquid, said casing having a relatively short brated in any desired way suitable to. the appadownward extension 6 and a comparatively long ratus, or machine with which the invention is upward extension 1. Totally or, partially within to be used. The scale used is illustrative of those the downward extension 6, is a cup 8 to continuwhich may be used when the invention is to be 40 ously receive some of the liquid flowing through employed in connection with an extractor. the casing, the bottom of said cup being provided A coiled spring 23 surrounds the shaft II to with a drain opening 9 through which some of its move the two shafts I I and i6 and the cup 8 upcontcnts discharges continuously. Normally, wardly when said cup has been drained suiiihowever, the cup 8 is kept full of the liquid and is ciently to permit said spring to act. In the presheld in a, lowered position by the weight ofv said ent disclosure, the spring 23 bears against the liquid, but when the liquid flow through the casguide 53 at its lower end and against an adjusting dwindles sum ciently, the cup contents will ing nut 2d at its upper end, said nut 24 being drain from the cup, whereupon the latter is threaded on the shaft II and being accessible for moved upwardly to perform the desired adjustment through a suitable opening 25 in the operation. casing extension I. By adjusting the nut 24, the A disk valve ill contacts with the bottom of the device may be set so that the cup 8 will move cup 8 to control the eifective size of the drain downwardly under the Weight of any desired opening 9 and to thus control the time at which amount of liquid. the cup may move to its raisedposition, and pro- As long as liquid is flowingthrough the casing 55 5 at a greater rate than it discharges through the drain opening 9 of the cup 8, said cup will remain in lowered position but as soon as the flow of liquid through the casing dwindles sufficiently to allow the predetermined draining of the cup, the spring 23' lifts said cup and the shafts H and I5. This movement may be relied upon simply to give an audible or visible alarm or to otherwise perform work, for instance, stopping an extractor when the invention is used in connection therewith. With the construction shown, it is advisable to provide the bottom of. the casing 5 with a spout 26 overhanging the cup 8 to direct liquid into the latter even when the flow through the casing is very slight.

For illustrative purposes, I have illustrated an electrical switch 21 controlled by the vertical movements of the cup 8 and shaft H, said switch forming part of an electrical system for automatically stopping an extractor when it has extracted the required amount of water, but no more than the required amount, from the load being handled, said switch also serving to condition the circuit for the next operation of the extractor upon closing of the usual control switch (not shown).

The switch El is preferably mounted in a suitable enclosure 28 projecting laterally from the casing extension I, and said switch may well be constructed as described below.

An insulating base 29 is secured in the casing 23 and carries an upwardly biased contact arm 30. Over this contact arm is a contact 3! on an insulating block 32 secured to the shaft H. As long as the cup 8 and shaft H are lowered, the contacts 33 and 30 are in engagement with each other and current then flows through the wires 30 and 31' to effect machine operation. However, when contact 3| is lifted from engagement with contact 38, the machine circuit is broken.

A latch 33 is provided to hold the contact arm 30 in the position to which it is downwardly sprung by the descent of the block 32, said latch being pivoted to a bracket 35 secured. to the base 29. When the block 32 is lifted to separate contact 3i from contact'3il, to stop the machine, continued upward movement of said block releases the latch 33, whereupon the upwardly biased contact arm 36 snaps upwardly again into engagement with contact 3|. The circuit may thus be conditioned for restarting of the machine by closing the usual hand control switch (not shown).

Another contact arm 35 and wire 36 connected therewith, are shown, said contact arm 35 being cooperable with the arm 3i] when the latter is lowered, to effect illumination of a light (not shown). The light circuit is, of course, broken whenever contact arm 30 swings upwardly upon release of the latch 33.

From the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the object of the invention, but attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

A spring 3? is shown for holding the disk valve ill against the cup bottom but other suitable provision could be made for this purpose. When the spring is employed, a yoke 38 may be secured to the cup to support saidspring.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a liquid conducting casing, a cup in said casing positioned to continuously receive some of the liquid flowing therethrough, means mounting said cup for downward movement under the weight of the liquid, means for moving said cup upwardly when relieved of said weight, said cup having a drain opening of insufficient conducting capacity to drain said cup until the flow of liquid through said casing and into said cup dwindles to a predetermined extent, a valve for controlling the effective size of said drain opening, and means operatively connected with said valve and extending to the exterior of said casing for adjusting said valve.

2. A device of the class described comprising a liquid passage, a cup positioned to receive some of the liquid from said passage, said cup having a drain opening which drains said cup when the supply of liquid thereto diminishes to a predetermined extent, two vertical telescoped shafts extending upwardly from said cup, one of said shafts being secured to said cup, an adjusting valve for said drain opening connected with the other of said shafts and adjustable by means thereof, guide means slidably engaged with the outermost of said shafts to mount said cup for descent under the weight of the liquid therein, and means for lifting said shafts and cup when the latter has drained to a predetermined extent.

3. A device of the class described comprising a liquid passage, a cup positioned to receive some of the liquid from said passage, said cup having a drain opening which drains said cup when the supply of liquid thereto diminishes to a predetermined extent, a vertical tubular shaft secured at its lower end to said cup, an adjusting valve for said drain opening, an adjusting shaft for said valve extending upwardly through said tubular shaft, guide means slidably engaged with said tubular shaft to mount said cup for descent under the weight of the liquid therein, and means for lifting said shafts and cup when the latter has drained to a predetermined extent.

4. A device of the class described comprising a liquid passage, a cup positioned to receive some of the liquid from said passage, the bottom of said cup having a drain opening which drains said cup when the supply of liquid thereto diminishes sufficiently, a valve disk lying against the lower side of the cup bottom for controlling said drain opening, a rotatable adjusting shaft secured at its lower end to said valve disk and extending upwardly through the cup bottom, a tubular shaft surrounding the aforesaid adjusting shaft and secured at its lower end to said cup bottom, guide means slidably engaged with said tubular shaft to mount said cup for descent under the weight of the liquid therein, and means for lifting said cup andishafts when the former has drained to a predetermined extent.

5. A device of the class described comprising a liquid conducting casing having a relatively short downward extension and a relatively long upward extension, a cup in said downward extension to receive some of the liquid flowing through the casing, said cup having a drain opening which drains said cup when the supply of liquid thereto diminishes to a predetermined extent, a tubular shaft carrying said cup and extending upwardly therefrom in said upward extension, fixed guides in said casing with which said tubular shaft is slidably engaged to mount said cup for descent under the weight of the liquid therein, a spring in said casing for raising said shaft and said cup when the latter has been drained sufiiciently, and adjusting valve for said drain opening, and an adjusting shaft for adjusting said valve, said adjusting shaft extending upwardly through and beyond said tubular shaft.

6. A device of the class described comprising a liquid passage, a cup positionedto receive some of the liquid from said passage, said cup having a drain opening which drains said cup when the supply of liquid thereto diminishes to a predetermined extent, two vertical shafts extending 10 upwardly from said cup, one of said shafts being secured to said cup, an adjusting valve for said drain opening, said valve being operatively connected with the other of said shafts to be adjusted by means thereof, guide means slidably engaged with said one of said shafts to mount said cup for descent under the Weight of the liquid therein, and means for lifting said shafts and cup When the latter has drained to a predetermined extent.

CALHOUN COLLINS. 

